Viper's bugloss

Sun

Full sun.

Water

Low once established; water young plants during prolonged dry weather and avoid persistently wet soil.

Soil

Well-drained, preferably sandy, gravelly or chalky soil. Tolerates poor fertility; avoid heavy, waterlogged ground.

Height

1-3 ft (0.3-0.9 m)

Spread

1-2 ft (0.3-0.6 m)

Flowers

Late spring through summer, sometimes into early autumn; pink buds open to vivid blue flowers with protruding reddish stamens.

Foliage

Narrow, rough, bristly green leaves form a basal rosette, with smaller leaves along the flowering stems. Rosettes may remain green through mild winters.

Growth

Fast once established; usually flowers in its second year.

Care needed

Low

• Pollinators
• Deer resistant
• Drought tolerant
• Cold hardy
• Low allergen

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Easy

Toughness

Very tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   1 ft (0.3 m)

2. After 1 year

   1.5 ft (0.45 m)

3. After 2 years

   2 ft (0.6 m)

   full size

About 2 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Toxic

Native to

the UK

Invasive in

the US, Canada and Australia

In the garden

Spreads vigorously: plan to contain it.

Growth rate

Fast

• Water seedlings until rooted, then water only during extended drought.
• Do not routinely feed; rich soil encourages soft growth and flopping.
• Keep the crown free of damp organic mulch; use a light gravel mulch if needed.
• Support unusually tall stems in exposed gardens before they lean.
• Wear gloves and long sleeves when handling the bristly leaves and stems.

Pruning. Cut fading flower spikes before seeds ripen if you do not want seedlings. Remove dead stems after flowering, or leave a few to seed only where the plant is appropriate and its spread can be controlled.

Early spring

Remove unwanted overwintered rosettes while their taproots are still manageable.

Spring

Sow seed directly into open, well-drained soil where the plants are to flower.

Late spring

Thin crowded seedlings to about 1-1.5 ft (0.3-0.45 m) apart.

Summer

Water new plants in prolonged drought and support leaning flower spikes if necessary.

Late summer

Remove fading spikes before seed develops to limit spread.

Autumn

Clear dead plants and check that surviving rosettes are not buried under wet leaves.

• Use as a temporary vertical accent among low plants in a sunny gravel garden.
• Combine with yarrow and oxeye daisies for a loose, meadow-like planting where its spread is acceptable.
• Plant with ornamental grasses to contrast blue flower spikes with fine foliage.
• Include in a sunny pollinator border away from paths, play areas and grazing animals.

Garden styles it suits: Cottage garden, Wildflower, Wildlife garden, Pollinator garden, Dry gravel garden and Desert / xeriscape.

Plant it with: Yarrow, Oxeye daisy, Field scabious, Catmint, Lavender and Sheep's fescue.

Wildlife: Nectar-rich flowers attract many bees, including bumblebees, as well as other pollinating insects. Its wildlife value does not outweigh the need to control it where it threatens pasture or native vegetation.

• Excessive self-seeding: remove flower spikes before seed ripens and pull young rosettes promptly.
• Crown or root rot in wet soil: improve drainage or move future plantings to a raised, gravelly site.
• Flopping stems in rich soil or shade: provide full sun, stop feeding and stake if necessary.
• Powdery mildew: thin crowded plants for airflow and avoid drought stress in young plants.

All parts contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids and should not be eaten by people, cats, dogs or horses. Repeated ingestion can cause serious, potentially fatal liver damage; horses and other grazing livestock are particularly at risk, including from contaminated hay. The stiff hairs can also irritate skin.

Where it spreads. An introduced pasture and environmental weed in parts of North America, especially the western United States and southern Canada; it is listed as noxious in several western jurisdictions. It is also a serious introduced weed in southeastern Australia, including parts of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native in the United Kingdom.

• Paterson's curse (Echium plantagineum)

  Usually has broader, softer basal leaves and larger, more purple flowers with only two stamens clearly protruding; viper's bugloss has narrow, harshly bristly leaves and four prominently protruding stamens.

• Common bugloss (Anchusa officinalis)

  Its blue-purple flowers have a conspicuous pale, scaly eye and stamens hidden inside the flower, unlike the projecting stamens of viper's bugloss.

• Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans)

  A much larger, woody evergreen shrub with dense, cone-shaped flower heads and grey-green foliage, rather than a mostly biennial plant arising from a basal rosette.

Echium comes from the Greek echis, meaning viper, reflecting an old association with snakes and snakebite remedies, while vulgare means common.

Propagation. Propagate by seed sown directly in spring or early autumn into well-drained soil, covering lightly. Autumn sowing is best where seedlings can establish before severe cold. Plants develop a taproot and resent being moved; division is not suitable.

Accepted botanical name

Echium vulgare

In the US and Canada

Introduced in Alaska, the lower 48 states and St. Pierre and Miquelon.

Native range

Albania, Altay, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Rus, Corse, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia and Denmark.

Measured

Soil pH 6.5 to 7. Average height 21 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.